Sunday, October 14, 2012

Every now and then someone complains to us by email or in the comments that we’re wasting our time, that all we do is talk-talk while the Islamization of the West proceeds apace. They think that action is needed, not words. Sometimes the type of action is specified, but more often not. In any case, we’re exhorted to get off our pajama-clad butts and do something.

I’ve gotten used to the whinging over the years, and no longer pay much attention to it.

It’s not true, of course: for the past six years a group of dedicated volunteers has been working patiently, tirelessly, quietly, behind the scenes and out of the headlines, learning the ropes and organizing and taking opportunities to act against the massive forces that are arrayed against us.

Seven such volunteers from our distributed network journeyed to Warsaw earlier this month to confront the Islamizers of the West in one of their favorite venues, an international body known as Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The occasion was its annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting. Two of those volunteers — Liz Schmidt from Germany and Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff from Austria, second from the right and rightmost, respectively, in the above photo — represented Bürgerbewegung Pax Europa (BPE), a German civil-liberties group.

As a direct result of an intervention by BPE at the Warsaw meeting, a “hate speech” prosecution in Germany against Professor Armin Geus was dropped. This proves that private organizations can have a trickle-up effect at HDIM meetings, because official representatives of the participating states are in attendance, and they have to pay attention to the proceedings. The German delegation in Warsaw did exactly that, and the case against Prof. Geus has just been shut down.

This is not just talk: Ms. Schmidt and Ms. Sabaditsch-Wolff have walked the walk. Because of their efforts, Prof. Geus can breathe the air of a free man again — and stop paying lawyers to keep him out of jail for writing his books.

So should we cue up Bob Seger for the occasion? Maybe — but this isn’t a little victory. It’s a major victory.

The trial of Prof Armin Geus has been shut down following an intervention at the recent Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meeting in Warsaw by the German citizens Movement and ICLA ally Bürgerbewegung Pax Europa (BPE).

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has been lobbying to shut down free speech in the West for some time now. It claims that its efforts in this regard are done in the name of religious tolerance. However, the record of religious tolerance in many OIC countries leaves a lot to be desired. Many OCSE countries are guilty of extreme forms of religious oppression. In reality the only guarantee of freedom of religion is freedom of speech itself, exactly the freedom that the OIC wants to curtail. Perhaps the reason that they oppose freedom of expression is because it gets in the way of their own oppression of religious minorities. They would much prefer this freedom of expression to be referred to as blasphemy and those that practice it, heretics.

In the background of OIC hatred towards the concept of Free Speech Professor Geus’ book Die Krankheit des Propheten (“The Illness of the Prophet”) had been reported to the German authorities in the city of Marburg for “Incitement to hatred against peoples”. This complaint was in line with the continuous agitation coming from the OIC itself.

The following is the text of the BPE intervention in Warsaw:

Freedom of expression — Silencing intellectuals

We bring to the attention of the participating States, in particular the German delegation, the case of German professor Armin Geus who a year ago wrote a book called Die Krankheit des Propheten (“The Illness of the Prophet”) and who has been reported to the German authorities in the city of Marburg for “Incitement to hatred against peoples” and “Insulting faiths, religious communities and philosophical associations”. It is obvious that apart from the so-called “political correctness”, there is a campaign to establish “scientific correctness”, which is aimed at stifling the constitutional right to freedom of scientific inquiry, especially when aimed at the foundation of Islam.1

BPE urges Germany not to give in to intimidation and as a result stifle free thought a well as scientific study.

BPE reminds ODIHR of its commitments: “…guaranteeing the freedom of artistic creation […] form[s] part of the human dimension of the CSCE. They consider that independent intellectual […] life is crucial for the maintenance of free societies and democratic institutions.” (Moscow 1991).

We hope that the BPE intervention helped achieve this significant outcome which is a victory for all who value and campaign for freedom of speech in the world today. The instigators of the outrageous legal action against Professor Geus remain undeterred and are said to be appealing the decision. It is outrageous that vexatious litigations of this kind are not treated for what they are and dismissed as soon as they begin. ICLA and its allies will be monitoring the situation closely.